


Like I Can't Live Without You

by Chronicles_of_Scout



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Amnesia, F/F, Hopeful angst, Kalex, Kara needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-01-07 02:50:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18401627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chronicles_of_Scout/pseuds/Chronicles_of_Scout
Summary: Alex deserved all of the things and Kara... she'd kind of thought she'd missed out on her chance to give them to her.Or that time that Kara has nearly reached her breaking point and goes on a truth sesh.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These last few episodes have been really good but that unfortunately means that I have lost my mojo. I'm unable to think big picture and am stuck in oneshot land! It's the most freeing torture imagineable!
> 
> This one might continue if they divert from what I enjoy, but so far they have shocketh and impresseth me so much that I must yield to greatness.
> 
> On with the show.
> 
> Song: Rihanna and Mikkey Echo- Stay

Flying into Alex’s apartment right now seems to be a fairly foolish plan.

For one: Director Danvers and Supergirl’s tenuous truce is just that.Tenuous.And seeing Supergirl assassinate a few senators well…

Even _she_ wouldn’t fault the Director for turning on her.

Still… it’s _Alex._

And Alex has called her and so she’ll go.There’s not a world that exists where Kara could ignore Alex; would _want_ to ignore Alex.

Even so, her guard is up and she’s already fighting tears by the time she arrives.

“Did you call me here to arrest me?”She questions before she even lands properly, the impulse to pace strong but subdued for now.Her cloak still flutters with her agitated movements.

“We know you would never do this.”Lena says instead of confirming all of Kara’s fears like she’d expected.Because of course Lena and Alex have become besties in Kara’s absence.Being replaced so easily kind of stings even if they’re apparently teaming up to help her now.

“That you would _never_ do something like this.”And Alex… Alex is looking at her like she’s trying to figure out a puzzle.

Her breath catches in her chest and through her relief, there’s a panging _longing._ Lena is saying something about getting to the bottom of this but Kara’s so focused on _breathing_ that she doesn’t really hear.Or pay much attention.

She feels herself start to pace, listening as Lena goes on about how every government agency in the Western world is looking for Supergirl.

“They actually believe I _killed_ those people!”Kara says, dragging a hand roughly through her hair, a habit she’d picked up from Alex.“Kal and I would _never_ kill let alone hurt—”

“Hey, we know.We’re on your side Supergirl.”Lena looks so earnest that Kara has to turn away.She’s too angry to accept help at the moment, no matter how much she knows she needs it.Selfishly she wants to question where the two of them were when she _had_ needed them.

A small part of her, a teeny tiny insignificant _dark_ part, whispers that if she and Alex had been a team this wouldn’t have happened.If Alex had stood by her like she’d said she would, no one would have been able to set this up.

She shakes the thought from her head.It’s not Alex’s fault, it’s hers.She was the one who was irresponsible.

She was the one who needed to fix this.Besides, it’s hardly as though either Lena or Alex would believe that she has suddenly developed her very own clone.Bizzaro not withstanding.

Another headshake and she’s turning back around, there may be something that can help her at the Fortress.Some explanation for how there’s another Supergirl flying around.

She turns directly into Alex’s lips, the director sealing their mouths together, one hand tangling in Kara’s hair and the other tugging her close by the hip.

It catches her completely off guard, her eyes closing but her eyebrows disappearing into her hairline at the abruptness of the connection.

For Alex’s part, the kiss is firm, not eager or particularly passionate just… a hard press of the lips.Like a taste test.Clearly meant to be short.

But Kara’s been alone for _so long now…_

When she realizes what’s happening, she doesn’t stop her hands from cupping Alex’s face and bringing them closer together.Doesn’t stop her tongue from licking at Alex’s lips and seeking _more_.

By the time Alex pulls away—jerks away—Kara can’t tell if it’s because she’s out of breath or she’s really that disgusted.

She doesn’t look disgusted.

Just sort of… thoughtful.Suspicious.

“So… we were together for a long time then.”

Wait—what?

“Huh?”

Lena sighs and crosses her arms, “we could have just asked her.”

“We need to talk,” Alex says, pointing between herself and Kara.There’s a challenging lilt to her voice and her eyes narrow in that stubborn way that Kara had always secretly adored. “Not here obviously and all of the Luthor properties have been compromised.So… do you trust me?Or was what we had just a fling?”

The question is an insult in almost every way.There’s no way anyone would quantify the chronicles of KaraandAlex as anything remotely close to a fling.Kara thinks of lazy Sundays when Alex would completely take off from the DEO and she’d put away her phone and ignore all calls from CatCo.It’d be just the two of them and Alex would let her pig out on whatever junk food she wanted, and they’d cuddle on the couch talking about everything and anything, and Alex’s hands would somehow always wind up in her hair.It was pricked fingers, bloody and bruised from the rubble that Maggie Sawyer and Mon-El had left behind, stitched back together with healing kisses against palms and cheeks.There were game nights that transitioned into sleepovers that transitioned into kisses and a new kind of love and eventually basically living together.And that… That turned into talking about starting a family.

All of it put on hold until after the DEO investigation was over.

Not that either of them could have foreseen Alex not remembering their relationship.Afterall, she’d been with _Kara_ not Supergirl. But that first meeting after Alex’s memories had been removed…It’s pretty surprising that she has any tears left after that.

“It wasn’t a fling.”The words are out of her mouth before she can stop them; she doesn’t really care though.Kara finds she’s very tired of lying to Alex.This was supposed to be temporary and it’s already lasted way longer than either of them had anticipated.

She’s had to watch Alex flirt with other girls; had had to field requests for Alex’s number like she was some sort of pimp.Had to listen to Alex bash herself for supposedly not chasing after the family unit she’d desired.

And Kara had to sit there and take it on the chin for her ‘safety’.The story rang familiar and she wasn’t any more pleased with the outcome now then she had been then.Her ‘safety’ seemed to translate directly into ‘desolation’.She was caring less and less about it as this wore on.

Alex gives her a measured nod and then gestures towards her bedroom. “You might want to find something a bit more dressed down than that Supergirl.

They’re headed towards a black car a short while after that.Kara’s wearing Alex’s sneakers and sweats and an old MIB hoodie that she knew the DEO agent stuffed away for only her most coziest of nights.Her Supergirl uniform fits nicely under both and the face modifier that Brainy had worked up for her is unblocked.

When they had initially thought up the plan of having people forget who she was, it was suggested that she change her Supergirl persona even more.Especially once Alex revealed that she intended to be wiped as well.Glasses or not, there was simply no way Alex _wouldn’t_ recognize Kara without some sort of mask.

Brainy’s solution was a slight hologram, similar to the tech Lena had created to hide aliens, hidden away in Kara’s earrings.Apparently the programming is similar to the notice-me-not charm from Harry Potter.

Handy that.

Except it absolutely guts her every time Alex looks at her with no recognition.

Lena chooses the backseat and gives an almost friendly smile to the Super, except even Kara can read the amusement there.Sighing she drops into the front seat and studiously ignores Alex fiddling with the wires under the dash.

She does not want to say she actually _saw_ Alex steal a car.Plausible deniability works there right?

Kara’s buckling the seatbelt into place when she sees Alex giving her a look.“What?Safety first.”

“You’re indestructible.”

“The car isn’t.”

Alex smirks and the engine sputters to life.“How considerate of you.”The car pulls out of the lot and Alex starts driving through the empty streets of National City.It really is quiet this time of night.

“So you and I?We were a thing huh?”

Alex’s question is so nonchalant that Kara’s head quite literally breaks the speed record for snapping around.

“What?”

“I mean it’s weird cause I find your whole self-righteous thing to be a little much you know?”She takes her eyes off the road to glance at Kara appreciatively, a small smile on her lips.“But you’ve also got that whole puppy vibe going on so maybe it’s that?”

Lena snorts from the backseat and Kara wonders if she’s stuck under the Black Mercy again.No way was this real.

“What is happening right now?”

“You look like someone who appreciates a good Disney movie.”

They turn down an abandoned looking street and Kara realizes they are headed towards the warehouse district.A district that is basically known for its abandoned buildings.

Oh my Rao, Alex _was_ going to kill her!She listens as hard as she can but can’t hear any other heartbeats for miles around.So, not a setup…

Unless they were cloaking themselves somehow!

“I’m not going to kill you.”Alex says and Kara wonders if the woman has suddenly developed telepathy.“I’m just curious about your movie preferences.Disney?”

“Um, yes?”

“I thought so.”Another turn, another decisive nod.“So you get the whole true loves kiss thing?The magic behind the kiss of your ‘soulmate’ or whatever.”

“Um, I guess?”

Alex nods again and pulls up in front of a dark building with busted windows.Kara feels like she’s had a good run, maybe Alex will feel a little bad when she realizes that Supergirl is also Kara.

Maybe.

Definitely.

Possibly.

“You coming?”Alex and Lena are now standing in front of the warehouse doors and Alex is holding something in her hands.She throws the object at Kara when she finally exits the vehicle and, though she flinches, she does not allow herself to move.The trust they’ve been building is fragile and she doesn’t want Alex to think she doesn’t believe in her.

Because clearly she has her priorities in order.

1.Alex’s trust

2.Her own life and wellbeing

Rao she was insane.

Luckily it turns out to be the suit Lena had made to help her filter her environment.And Lena said she didn’t care.The sneakity snook.

Kara smiles a little when the suit finishes enveloping her body, flexing her muscles to ease the fabric over her skin.If nothing else, this suit proves that Lena _had_ cared at some point.That their friendship wasn’t all in Kara’s head.It helps to think about that sometimes.

“Lena…” Alex is giving Kara a onceover but her eyes are filled with pity, “what the _hell_ did she do to deserve that?”

Both Lena and Kara look at Alex in shock, Kara mildly offended on her friend’s behalf.

“Hey!”Kara huffs indignantly, hands balled into fists at her hips.

“That thing is ridiculous.”

“It’s designed by the same team that makes NASA’s suits.”Lena contends with a sharp eyeroll and cocked hip.

“You look like a power ranger.”

Kara glowers, not that either of them can see it, and jerks her hand at Alex.“You _liked_ the power rangers.You wanted to be Trini.”

Alex tips one eyebrow up at her.“I told you that?”

Oh man she’s dumb.“Yes?”

“Huh.”The agent turns back to the door, talking even as she ventures further into the building.“There’s Kryptonite in here hence the suit so let us know if you’re feeling weird.”Kara walks into an end table and Alex levels her with a look.

“It’s dark in here!”

“You have _super_ vision.”

“I’m not a cat.”Kara grumbles under her breath, starting to feel mildly annoyed at this whole situation.This was the most confusing thing ever.And she’d been with Alex through her punk rock phase.

Lena leads them to the middle of the room, flicks something on her watch and a circle becomes visible in the floor as the platform they’re on starts its descent.The walls are enveloped in green light and the display on her helmet gives a Kryptonite warning.

“Anyway, back to the kissing thing.So, like if someone kissed you who wasn’t your soulmate, you’d know right?According to Disney?”

“Yeah.”Kara’s distracted.Mostly because her best friend has a secret underground bunker covered in Kryptonite.Which meant that she’d built this specifically to keep Kryptonians out.

To keep _Kara_ out.She has to remind herself it’s not personal; that there are way more Kryptonians out there than just Kara.Lena has a right to want to protect herself.

Afterall, the whole purpose behind the mind wipe was for Kara to protect herself against _humans._ She could hardly fault anyone for fearing the discontent of another species.

That doesn’t make it hurt any less.

“Yeah.That’s what I thought.”They finally come to a stop and Lena leads them to another room with biometric scans and a tricky looking password before they’re let out into a… pretty normal looking office/lab space. Lena gently taps the S on Kara’s chest and the suit recedes into its capsule, falling like a dead weight into Kara’s palm. “So, imagine my surprise when I get kissed by your doppelganger a few hours ago and immediately realized that, that was _not_ how you kissed.Or tasted.”Eyes widening, Kara pulls her attention away from the room and directs it completely to Alex.Doppelganger?Kiss?What in the world was she talking about?Alex levels her with an even look, no look of humor on her face.“And then I’m watching that same woman murder unarmed civilians and I know in my gut that it’s not you.”

“I… don’t…”She doesn’t know what to say.She knows for a fact that she hadn’t murdered those people.And she also hadn’t kissed Alex.At least not before the attack.But a clone?

“Supergirl,” Lena cuts in, a hand resting gently on Kara’s forearm the way she used to when they’d been close.“We want to help but, in order for us to do that, we need you to be honest with us.”

Kara nods, unsure of what else she can do.

“How long were we together?”Alex asks and Kara is so shocked that she actually answers.

“Almost eight months.”

Alex’s eyebrows disappear into her hairline.“Wow.Ok.And you thought it best to just remove—”

“ _You_ thought it would be best.”Kara glances between Lena and Alex, taking a nervous step towards Alex.“You wanted… you told your… sister that you felt stuck.”She settles on that because it’s common knowledge between the two women that Kara Danvers is close friends with Supergirl.Kara only hopes that sharing this as Supergirl doesn’t make Alex distrust _Kara_.“That you felt like you hadn’t accomplished anything outside the DEO.”She shakes her head, the emotions from earlier finally winning and causing a tear to escape.“‘s’not true.You… _we_ were moving forward.Alex you stopped dating because we _started._ You _finished_ your adoption portfolio… we both did but… Haley found out who I was, and she threatened to expose me if I didn’t become the government’s pet weapon.So you sacrificed your memories… for me.”

Alex’s jaw clenches and she props her hands on her hips before turning away to collect herself.

Kara doesn’t blame her, she’s barely holding herself together too.

“Was… I involved in that as well?I’m not experiencing any of the symptoms that Alex is—”

“No.”Kara sniffles and wipes an arm under her nose.“No.I was too much of a coward to tell you who I was.I couldn’t… I couldn’t stand it if you hated _both_ of my personas you know?”She clears her throat and glances up at Lena from red rimmed eyes.“Plus, as I’m sure you’ve already figured out, it doesn’t really pay to be my friend.”

“Enough of the pity party.”Kara snaps her eyes back to Alex who’s looking at her with such pain and anger that she takes a step back.Alex waves a hand at Kara’s body, grimace firmly in place.“You are clearly not the Kryptonian who attacked the white house.Or the one that kissed me.Which means you have a clone.Considering Lex Luthor just escaped and stole Lena’s secret power giving formula, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that he’s responsible.And, if Lex Luthor is controlling a Kryptonian, then we have bigger problems than _this_.”

Kara nods, sniffles again and presses her palms against her eyes until she sees red spots.Soft hands pull at her wrists and, when she lowers them, she’s staring into the solemn brown eyes of Alex Danvers.

“When this is over, I’d have two suggestions for you: 1, find a way to stop the witch hunt on your identity and 2, grow a fucking vagina and _trust_ your friends.Ok?”Kara nods again and feels like the most useless bobblehead in existence.Alex runs her thumbs over Kara’s pulse points and her voice softens, turning almost imploring.“When you’ve done those things, I want you to come find me because I have a feeling that I really loved you Supergirl and I’d really like to know _why_.”

Another nod, and then a slight jump when Lena rests a hand on her shoulder.

“Earlier, when you showed up at Alex’s apartment… We expected your colleagues to join us but… Supergirl, who’s left from your team?”

Kara can’t answer that and chooses instead to pull away from them both.J’onn is gone, off somewhere to make peace with his father.Clark is off planet.James was shot.Winn is thousands of years in the future.

Nia is untrained and eager and it will only get her killed.

She has Brainy…

Two aliens against all of Earth.

She can’t handle this; not right now.Not ever.Except, when she tries to extricate herself, she doesn’t get that far because Alex’s hands tighten around her wrists and Lena squeezes her shoulder in comfort.

“Hey, you’re not alone anymore Supergirl.”Lena hasn’t talked to her like this in almost a year and Kara can’t help that she starts crying again.“You’ve got us now, so what do you say we go clear your name?”

 

 

 

 


	2. I Don't Wanna Lose You Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex had planned on having that conversation with Supergirl but then a Kryptonian Clone throws a wrench in her plans and she has to figure out how to stop a national threat without her heart.
> 
> Or that really sad time that Supergirl dies and doesn't have the power to make a Spirit Bomb like Goku.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've finished this fixit for now and, while it very likely will remain just this two-parter as I'm writing my Space AU, I'm also gonna leave it open to more. It's just that that scene where Red Daughter was being put in the coffin thingy by Lex, and she started to cry? Heartbreaking and sso I think she deserves all the things and I think Kara having a twin would be awesome. We'll see what happens.
> 
> There's a short story mentioned in this called The Most Dangerous Game which, for anyone who has not read it, details a world renowned hunter who, in having bested every animal he knows, decides to hunt a human for a bigger challenge. It's really good and I definitely recommend reading it if you haven't. It's basically a fuck you to the hunting industry as well as going over how thirst for power and status is all consuming to the point of destruction in some people.
> 
> Song- Mirrors by Justin Timberlake

A lot of people would be wondering how they got here right about now.They’d be going over every decision, every memory.Raking through their minds for the smallest ways in which they were wrong.

For Alex, there was no need.

She knew exactly how she had gotten here.

_Everything is going to be OK._

She’d been arrogant.So sure, that her mentality without her memories would continue to fight for justice as she always had.She may not have turned into a fear mongering alien hunter like Ben Lockwood, but she hadn’t protected them either.

She hadn’t protected Kara.

_Let me save you this time._

In the time it had taken for her memories to come back, she’d watched immobilized as Kara had had the life beaten out of her.Kara had fallen, Red Daughter standing over her and daring her to get back up when Alex had finally woken from her stupor.

She remembers saying ‘no’ a lot.

Remembers running.

Remembers losing.

Alex had been tossed across the field and Kara had been spirited away to god knows where.

It had taken a frantic call to J’onn to get back to National City; much quicker than her bike with J’onn being able to carry both her and Eliza as an added bonus.They’d needed to regroup; come up with a plan and quick.The longer Kara was in Lex Luthor’s possession the more dire their situation would become.

She’d ordered J’onn to get her to L-Corp, still unsure of Director Haley and the DEO with such an incompetent asshat as a President.

Alex had barely been able to speak to Lena; had barely gotten out her plea for help before the news was declaring Supergirl dead, displaying the picture of her defeat in full 4k video for the world to see.Kara’s body hung limply, her face bloody and bruised and her chest completely still as she lay immobile in her captor’s arms.

Holding her up was like a trophy in some sick imitation of the Most Dangerous Game is Lex Luthor.Alex fights the urge to vomit, black spots dance in her peripherals and she has to clamp both hands on Lena’s lab bench to keep herself upright.Behind Alex, Eliza collapsed, a wail of despair echoing throughout Lena’s lab.Alex couldn’t.She wanted to but she couldn’t.All she could do was stare at Kara and will her to move.

She didn’t.

Nia started to cry.

But the reporters _cheered_ ; the people they interviewed _cheered._

A thwarted attack they had said; Lex Luthor praised as a hero who saved them all from a Kaznian invasion.

Which leaves Alex here.

Straddling a bench in Lena’s workroom nearly 12 hours later and working out all the ways she is going to kill Lex Luthor.

_There’s no other way._

_There is!You can quit—_

She should have listened when she’d had the chance.

_Leave; get out of there!_

She should have.She should have left with Kara, started a new life.Hell, she could have taken a job with Lena.They would have been fine right now.

Kara would have been fine.

“Lex invited me to the White House.”Lena’s the fifth person now to try to talk to Alex.She’s the first to not ask if she’s ok.“It’s a trap but I’m pretty sure I have to go.”

“Why?”

Maybe it’s the lack of hesitation that makes Lena startle, or maybe that Alex answered at all.Still, she’s curious as to why the woman would knowingly walk into a trap.All of Lena’s previous gambles with her life had been insured by Supergirl.

Who was now dead.

Lena’s backup was nonexistent.

There’s a heavy sigh from behind her and then the soft click of Lena’s heels.The black peep toe shoes enter Alex’s line of vision and she looks up from the wood beneath her to meet Lena’s heavy gaze.

“He was my responsibility.I’m the reason he escaped; the reason he has superpowers; the reason—the reason she’s dead.”Alex can see the words are a struggle, but she feels no sympathy for the woman in front of her.Most of what she had said was true.

However unintentional it may have been.

“Supergirl’s dead.You won’t have any last-minute heroics.”

Lena nods, eyes glassy as she fiddles with an envelope in her hands.“I know.”She purses her lips and looks back at Alex.“I am so sorry Alex.I know that… there was a history there.”

History.

Odd word choice for someone Alex had built her entire life around.She’d fallen in love with Kara when she was just fifteen years old and she’d never stopped.Alex had thought getting her mind wiped was the honorable thing; had been sure she’d been protecting Kara.She’d forgotten the entire reason she’d joined the DEO was to protect Kara from government interests.To protect her in the likely event that some idiot in the White House worked it out in their stupid fat head that _Kara_ was the danger.

It would have been easier, she had reasoned, to get Kara away from National City and into hiding if she’d been a part of that government.

Taking herself off the board had done exactly what she had been trying to prevent.It had made Kara vulnerable, exposed and Alex hadn’t done a damn thing to stop it.

All of the memories she had recovered were just painful mockeries now.Remembering all of the times Kara had saved her, the time that Kara had made it _snow_ just because Alex was missing her dad… all of the nights they’d fall asleep whispering their secrets into the empty space between them.

They may not have recognized their feelings for one another until later in life, but Alex now knows what it is to have held Kara in sleep.She knows what it is to have kissed her; loved her.

It feels like someone scooped out her insides and left an empty husk in her place.

“I didn’t remember it.”

“Still.She was important to you.”

It’s then Alex realizes that it’s not just sympathy that she doesn’t feel but anger.The spectrum of human emotion actually.

She can’t feel anything.

Not pain.

Not anger.

Not want.

Just… regret.

She’s very numb and there are a lot of things that she should have done but hadn’t and there are a lot of things that Kara had wanted to do but couldn’t.

“She was Kara.”Alex rolls her lips, gazing at Lena with what one could generously call empathy as she delivers the information.She watches as she destroys what’s left of Kara’s legacy.“Supergirl.Kara was Supergirl.She wanted to tell you, but I told her no.So did J’onn and Clark and James.”Alex rolls her eyes at the last one.“Well, James _did_ tell her not to but then he started banging you and his tune changed real quick.”

For her part, Lena pales, her mouth dropping open in shock and her fingers wrinkling the paper in her hands.

Then Lena clenches her teeth, her eyes darkening with her ire.“That’s not funny.”

“I don’t seem to be laughing.”Lena’s phone is in her hand in the next second and Alex knows without being told that she is trying to reach Kara.Kara who is dead.

“It felt like home,” Alex murmurs, “when I kissed her.It felt like… I thought I’d have more time to figure that one out.”

When Lena finally turns back to her, she’s hyperventilating, her face set in panic.“You’re lying. _PLEASE TELL ME YOU’RE LYING.”_

Her scream brings everyone running.Or everyone who’s left.J’onn had taken Eliza to Kara’s apartment to rest so that left James, Nia, and Brainy.

The latter walks steadily over to Lena and rests a hand on her shoulder.“Tiny boxes comrade.”

Whatever the hidden message is there, it calms Lena almost instantly, but she pushes James away when he goes for a hug.

“I wanted to tell you.”The tall man whispers, voice heavy with his pain.

“Fuck you.”Lena hisses back before redirecting her attention to Alex.Her eyes are bloodshot and furious and her voice quakes under pain and rage.“This isn’t the end of Lex’s plan.We _can’t_ let him get away with this.”

“No.”Alex agrees, her own eyes dropping back to her hands and the wood and trying not to imagine Kara’s tear-filled face.She should have left with her.

She should have.

~*~  
  


Brainy, Nia, and J’onn manage to stop the laser weapon.Unfortunately, that means that Shelley island is crashing down around them.

When they’d arrived on the Island, Alex and James had gotten distracted with Ben Lockwood and his merry band of misfit xenophobes.The men had been super powered muscle heads that had taken longer than Alex had anticipated to put down.She’d sent the three aliens ahead to try to stop the laser weapon but, by the time she and a now normal James had finished with the Children of Liberty, the island was in chaos.Whatever J’onn, Nia and Brainy had done had _not_ been good.

Above them, Lena and Lex are trapped in an aerial battle.There are flashes of green and blue, Lex’s Kryptonite having no affect against Lena and Lena’s normal human blood having no advantage over Lex’s Harun-El affected body.The two super geniuses clashed in a bright display of power as Alex runs towards the main building.

Rather than attend her brother’s invite, Lena had asked her mother for help rebuilding the suit she’d used against Morgan Edge.Two Luthor women were an extremely dangerous cocktail that Alex doesn’t think Lex accounted for.It’s a Luthor flaw to believe so heartily that they know their family.Lex hasn’t known who Lena was for a while.

She’s outgrown him and it shows in the way she is easily destroying his suit.Harun-El may have given Lex his edge but the Luthor Matriarch had installed a filter in Lena’s suit that would steadily extract the Kryptonian compound in the immediate vicinity.Lex was fighting a losing battle.

Alex fights a grimace, her shoulder slamming into a wall after a particularly violent rumble.James looks at her in alarm, his hand reaching out before Alex bats him away impatiently.

“Go!We need to get those aliens to safety!” The photographer hesitates and Alex shoves his large shoulder, pushing him further down the hall as she brings her wrist up to her mouth, shouting into her communicator as she calls in a favor.Then she’s running again, further towards the source of the explosions, pushing passed frantic bodies as she yells directions over the panic.

She rounds a corner and there’s a moment—a heart wrenching moment where she actually believes that she sees Kara.But then she sees the rest of the body and not just the face and her world returns to shades of greys.

Her heart thuds in her chest as she approaches the imposter, her gun coming up as Red Daughter stares her down defiantly.

“He tricked me.”The Kryptonian says, her chin wobbling.And it sounds like her.Looks like her.Alex’s grip tightens.

“You’re the one who believed him.”

“I know.”Red Daughter nods, and, while her tears spill freely, she faces down her death with her head held high.“I just… I wanted to believe he was my Alex.”

Hearing becomes an issue, there’s nothing but a dull roar echoing in her brain.All around her things are exploding and the others are quickly ushering aliens out of the building.Alex barely takes notice.

She needs to finish this.

 

~*~

Kara hadn’t really expected to wake up in a coffin, but when the door to the metal cage is released, she quickly clambers out.She has a thing about tight spaces and she’d very much like to not be in this one anymore.Besides, it’s doing terrible things for her hair.

If Winn were here, she’d be able to make a funny quip.As it is, he is not, and she is instead faced with hundreds of terrified aliens pushing and running towards the exit.The right side of her face feels like some ran over it with a planet, and she gently touches the inflamed skin as she tries to understand what mayhem she has just walked into.Kara squints and tries not to let her aching add to her anxiety.She’s already slightly overwhelmed by all of the activity and the blaring sirens, but her fight with Red Daughter has added to her inability to _focus_.

In times like these she likes to concentrate on one thing and one thing only.

And it just so happens that that one thing is standing a few feet away from her.

With a gun.

Pointed at Red Daughter.

Fiddlesticks!

Her superspeed is a little subpar today but she still manages to skid between them, her hand shooting out to palm the muzzle of Alex’s gun and _Rao does she hope there are no Kryptonite bullets in there!_

When none of the sickly green energy makes its way into her system she blinks rather stupidly at Alex.

Who had just pointed a harmless weapon at a Kryptonian.

…Weird…

“Kara?”Alex’s mouth is open in a slight ‘o’, her eyes wide and pleading.For what Kara isn’t sure, since Alex seems to have had the situation well in hand.The sound of Alex’s heart beats in staccato, her breathing increasing exponentially as she gawks at Kara like she’s not quite sure what she’s seeing.It’s confusing until Kara realizes she’s still in her Supergirl outfit and—hadn’t J’onn said Alex _couldn’t_ remember?That the return of said memories might drive her insane?

Red Daughter shifts behind them and Kara quickly puts those thoughts on hold to reach out a hand to rest on her twin’s shoulder.

“She’s not evil!”She tries to explain, despite seeing what her counterpart had done. …And also, despite the fact that Alex was kind of outmatched here in terms of strength… not so much in brains.She’d grown up with the human, she knew how devious Alex could be when she wanted her own way and the woman knew all of Kara’s weaknesses.Which kind of meant she knew at least a good chunk of Red Daughter’s.Kara wasn’t going to take any chances.“Lex lied to her.He said his name was Alex and he convinced her—”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“Lena told me.”Alex’s eyes narrow in confusion, her hands stashing her gun in her thigh holster. Her voice sounds odd, clogged but squeaky.Like she’s going through puberty or something.It kind of hurts Kara’s ears. “Also I read your research.”

“Oh.”

They’re interrupted by a sharp whip of Dream Energy.

Nia looks at them breathlessly, her focus on holding up a chunk of roof.“I’m super happy you’re alive Supergirl but we’re kind of in the middle of an evacuation.”

“Oh.”Kara blinks, nods stupidly.“Right.”

This all feels very surreal but what Nia is requesting is at least easy.She knows how to help people.

Alex grabs her hand before she can take off again.“Lucy should be outside with a few DEO helicopters.Get the aliens onboard, Lucy will get them to a secure location outside of the President’s reach.”

“A secure…?”As far as Kara knew that _was_ the DEO.

“Something Cat, Lena, and I cooked up after the Daxam invasion.In case we ever needed to fly you under the radar.”

Nodding slowly, Kara turns her attention to Red Daughter.“We need to help evacuate these people.”

“I will help your friend.”Red Daughter refutes in her thick accent, her eyes glancing up towards the now exposed sky.It’s only then that Kara sees Lex Luthor battling it out with… Lena?What alternate reality had she walked _into_?

“Yeah ok that works. Stay safe.”

Red Daughter nods and takes off.Kara moves to follow her but before she can so much as levitate, she is tugged back by Alex who grabs her face and kisses her.Hard.

Alex’s lips are chapped, and Kara thinks she tastes blood but… it’s Alex.And her hands are still her hands and they still have the power to steady all of Kara’s uneasiness.The world around them slows, Kara’s own hands coming up to rest on Alex’s wrists and she tries to take in everything about this moment.

Her heart throbs loudly, sounding like canon fire in her ears and dulling her senses to all else but it’s beating and Alex’s touch.

This isn’t a test or a question.

This is Alex _kissing_ her.Alex kissing her like she had before.Alex kissing her like—

It’s over as soon as it begins, Alex pulling away with a final longing nip to Kara’s bottom lip.

“I remember,” the older woman breathes, her brown eyes aching with want “and after you’re done saving people, you and I need to have that conversation.”

Kara nods stupidly, backing away and tripping over her own cape due to the decided lack of motor skills that kiss has left her with.

“I’ll see you after?”She can’t help but ask.

Alex pulls her gun again, eyes alighting on something over Kara’s shoulder. “It’s a date.Now, go.”

And with her heart bursting with hope, Kara does.

~*~

Things move fairly quickly after that.

With the release of the documents Kara had found linking Lex to the president and revealing their nefarious plans to frame Kaznia, there are multiple world leaders in an uproar.The head of Kaznia’s military is arrested for crimes against the nation.The President of the United States is moved to a secure location while the other branches decide his fate.It’s a fairly cut and dry case to anyone watching; this is quite possibly the worst case of treason to grace America’s shores in the history of the United States.

Still politicians have a way of slipping out of their cuffs, so Alex doesn’t put all her eggs in that basket.

She’s already got several plans in place in case the President comes looking for a little revenge.

Which… is not her priority right now.

There’s a stinging pain near her hairline as Kara wipes at a cut Alex had sustained in the battle.It burns but Alex has had worse.

Currently does have worse.

Fighting Lex Luthor’s league of extraordinary assholes had taken a lot out of her.

Having Kara—alive Kara, breathing Kara—nurse her back to health is a welcome reward for her troubles.

When Kara is done tending to the cut, the last of Alex’s wounds, she places a salve and a bandage over the injured skin.A second later she is pressing a kiss first to the bandage and then to Alex’s forehead, nose, cheekbone and lips.

Alex sighs into the kiss, her hands reaching out to tug Kara’s hips closer to her own.It’s always been so easy to make Kara move for her, the Kryptonian bending to her every whim despite being the strongest being alive.

Alex remembers that when they had first started this, she had been so scared that Kara was only doing it because it’s what she thought _Alex_ wanted.A few months and countless reassurances later, and Alex had finally accepted that their feelings for each other were a mutual phenomenon.Her fingers tighten around Kara’s waist when she remembers how close she had come to losing it all.

“The next time I have a brilliant idea just tell me to go to sleep.”Alex orders between kisses, stubbornly ignoring the smile that blossoms on Kara’s mouth.

Since she’s gotten her memories returned, she’s realizing what a magnificently foolish plan it was to have her mind wiped.Choose the nation over Kara?Idiocy.Probably necessary but still idiocy.

“I tried.”Kara returns, giggling when Alex moves her kisses from Kara’s uncooperative lips to her neck.“You told me to trust you.”

“Don’t listen to me.Don’t ever listen to me again.”

Kara pulls Alex’s head back up, pure joy on her face as she kisses her again and again.

“I missed you.I missed you so much.”

“I missed you.”

“I love you Alex…”

Alex nods, swallowing a sob in favor of focusing on Kara’s mouth, on the way she feels standing between Alex’s thighs, on the way the muscles flex under suit and skin and _god._ “I love you too.So much Kara...”

“Seriously?”Lena interrupts from the now open doorway.“How did the two of you manage to hide your relationship for so long?”

Alex feels her face heat so rapidly, her _ears_ burn.She stands quickly but, when she would have taken a step away, Kara wraps and arm around her waist and grins at her.

“Alex isn’t really into PDA.I could only smother her in love when no one was around.”The words may be a confident tease but Kara’s doing that nervous shuffle, her grin shy as she peeks at Alex from beneath her lashes.

And fuck it.

She’d just spent the last fifteen some odd hours thinking she’d never get the chance to kiss Kara again.Screw her PDA anxiety.

Lena clears her throat before Alex can do much more than press a reassuring kiss to Kara’s lips.Which is understandable.Aside from not wanting to watch them suck face, Lena also has cause to be upset with them both for holding back such a life altering secret.

Alex is really hoping Lena remembers that Alex had taken the responsibility for that.She can’t count how many times Kara had asked her to let Lena into their circle and she’d always found a reason to hold back.To be fair, Lena had kept _giving_ Alex reasons to hold back but still.

It was a rough blow for anyone.

So, resuming her professional mantle of Director Danvers, Alex takes a half step away from Kara and crosses her arms.

“What did you need Lena?”

The signature clicks of Lena’s heels sound, the brunette stopping in front of them and handing Alex a tablet.“I just need to know how long you expect L-Corp to hold your hostage.I may be feeling pretty anti-government right now, but I still believe in due process.”

“Even for a clone?”Alex asks, eyebrow arched as she takes in the camera footage of Red Daughter hunched over in Reign’s old holding cell.

The Kryptonian is the picture of defeat, her elbow on her knees and her head buried in her hands.

As powerful as they now know she is, Alex has to wonder if the cell is even _capable_ of holding her for long.If it’s even capable of holding her right now.

“She’s not a clone.”Kara argues softly, reaching out and taking Alex’s free hand.“She’s… a part of me yes but she’s more than that.She’s not a copy; she’s her own person.”

“Own person or not,” Alex returns, “she’s directly responsible for an act of terrorism.Several in fact.And she nearly killed you, I’m not feeling very glass half full right now.”

Kara’s face drops and, although Alex feels an almost desperate need to wipe that expression from existence, she doesn’t.Red Daughter had been indoctrinated by Lex Luthor, she was dangerous, and a loose end Alex wasn’t willing to risk.Not when it came to her family.

She squeezes Kara’s hand in comfort, trying to convey her sympathy.Kara shakes her head and pulls her hand away, banding her arms around her own chest.

Lena clears her throat again and they both look up from their silent communication.

“Like I said, I believe in due process.”Lena takes the tablet back from Alex and swipes to a different screen before handing it back.Alex’s eyebrows go into her hairline and Kara leans over her shoulder to see what’s on the screen.“Being an alien not-clone, I don’t believe she’ll ever actually get a fair trial which means her life is quite literally in our hands.I’m not very comfortable with ending it.”

Reading the report in front of her, Alex can’t help but agree whole heartedly.

 

~*~

“What will you do with me?”The voice, thick accent still in place, is as defeated as Red Daughter’s posture.

Alex shifts her weight but says nothing, staring down the person who had almost taken Kara from her.She remembers with striking clarity how this woman had not let up, how she had beat Kara with her bare hands.

Speaking of… Kara is crouched in front of her doppelganger, the resemblance uncanny this close up.Kara may not like the word ‘clone’, but physically, the two of them were carbon copies of each other.Except one of them looks like she’s ready to give up on life and the other looks… beautiful.

Alex is so not biased.

Kara smiles kindly and shrugs.“Technically only the people in this room know you exist.And… we talked about it.The people who are currently in charge… they wouldn’t give you a fair trial.And… what happened to you wasn’t fair.What Lex did to you wasn’t…”Kara shakes her head firmly and restarts, the anger that had been building vanishing behind a careless grin.“So, we can say Lex made a clone or robot of Supergirl and that it was destroyed on Shelley Island with him.”

Which… is slightly far fetched but Brainy says he can make it look like that was exactly what happened.Alex obviously still has reservations, as does Lena, but J’onn has sided with Kara and Red Daughter has Kara’s face.Any argument Alex may have had is eliminated right then and there.

Director she may be, but she was also very human and very in love and the mere thought of harming Red Daughter makes her skin crawl.

The woman in question has finally lifted her head from her hands, blue eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“You would do that?For me?”

“Mikhail is alive.”

Which is another reason Alex had been reluctant to act so harshly.She herself had shown what actions losing the most important person in her world would bring forth.Condemning Red Daughter for acting in the same way is wrong.Besides that, Alex has been alive a lot longer and had reacted much more quickly then Red Daughter had and they’d _both_ had Luthor’s on their side.If they were keeping score, Alex would clearly be the lose canon in this scenario.

Kara’s words, although delivered as gently as possible, still evoke a sulphurous reaction.Red Daughter launches to her feet, her teeth bared and snarling causing everyone else in the room to draw their weapons of choice.Alex’s hands keep her gun aimed at the clone’s head while Kara keeps her own hands up and placid, showing just how harmless she is.

As if a harmless super powered Kara were ever even an option.

Kara may act cute and fluffy, but if you pissed the puppy off, she’d melt your face in a heartbeat.Still, Kara keeps her face kind and open, keeping her palms up in surrender while standing, albeit much slower than Red Daughter had.

“You are lying.”The Kaznian snarls.

“No.”Kara shakes her head lightly, her hair swishing with the movement.“Lex ordered that bomb to be launched.”Red Daughter looks as though someone has punched her, stumbling backwards and tripping over the bench.She catches herself on the wall with one hand, her unblinking gaze steady on Kara.“Otis Graves was a jerk for sure, but he wasn’t really into murdering small children.”Kara shrugs again and swallows, her words slightly choked as she watches the hope bloom where there was once only ruin.“Looks like we both get a second chance.He’s gonna need someone to take care of him.”

Red Daughter sobs, palming her mouth with her free hand, the first of her tears beginning to flow.“He was dead.Alex told me—”

“My brother hated the name Alex.”Lena at least looks borderline sympathetic.When this is all over, they’re going to have to have a serious sit down with her, but she at least seems to have retained her heart throughout all of this.Despite her having to kill her brother.Of them all, Lena knows best what it’s like to be manipulated by Lex Luthor.“You were a tool to him; he saw an opportunity and he took it.You’re the one who told him that name, aren’t you?”

The blonde shakes her head helplessly, both hands rising to cover her face as she collapses onto the chair again.Kara quickly crouches in front of her, bracing her hands on the other woman’s knees.

“I tell— _told_ the soldiers.It was all I remembered when I woke up.”

Kara glances at Alex and Alex lowers her gun, Dreamer and Brainy standing down as well.Fucking clones.

It’s uncomfortable listening to the Kryptonian cry.She may not be Kara, but she sounds like her and she looks like her and Alex is a hopeless idiot ok?It’s quick work to holster her gun and lower the force field they had put up to contain the clone.Alex grabs several tissues and a bottle of water and crouches down next to Kara to offer them up.

“What’s your name?”She asks, dabbing softly at the tears on the oh so familiar face.

“I… he called me Red Daughter.”Sniffle.“Or Linda.Linda Lee.”

“Is that what you want to be called?Linda?”

Red Daughter’s lower lip trembles, her mouth taking up a slight pout, the same one that Kara has employed to get her way in nearly all of their altercations.Except Red Daughter has no ulterior motive and it takes Alex a while to realize she may have been the first person to ask the alien what it is _she_ wanted.

Those familiar blue eyes skirt between her and then Kara and then clenched hands wound so tight on the clone’s knees Alex is scared she’ll break herself.

“There was… a book.The Great Gatsby.”She pauses as if waiting for a rebuke and haltingly continues when none is forthcoming.“This was… I know there was thoughtlessness and the characters were fools and sinners, but I liked the name… Jordan.”

Looking like she’s scarcely daring to breathe, Red Daughter’s eyes remain wide even after Alex smiles and gently squeezes her forearm. 

“The Great Gatsby is a great book.”She doesn’t mention that Kara had cried for a week when forced to read it for school, so upset over the fact that infidelity was a common practice amongst humans.She also doesn’t remove her gaze from Red Daughter even though Kara is staring a hole through the side of her head.“It is very nice to meet you Jordan.”

Red Daughter’s— _Jordan_ ’s eyes glimmer with tears and incredulity.Alex kind of wishes she had more good news to give her.Anything to erase the damage that Lex Luthor has caused.

“Jordan,” Kara prompts, and identical eyes align once again.“We can help you; we _want_ to help you.I know that Lex manipulated you but… we can’t let what happened happen again.Do you understand?”

And just like that, all of the mounting hope vanishes.Jordan’s tears spilling over once again, her nod as despondent as her next words.

“I do.”

Kara pries her hand loose and tangles their fingers together, face set in determination.“We’re going to help you.You can have a new _life_.You can see Mikhail again.”Glancing over her shoulder, Kara gestures J’onn closer.“This is my friend J’onn Jones.He’s a Martian with powerful psychic abilities and he’s one of the best men I know.He’s agreed to take you in until you get back on your feet.”

And, yes Alex had been shocked when J’onn had volunteered his services.Less so when her Space Dad had explained his position.

He was no longer under any illusions that he could have saved Manchester Black; he’d set those demons aside when he’d gone back to Mars.However, even though he had hung up his oath of peace, he still wanted to do all that he could to spread it.Failing in saving Manchester did not have to mean he would give up on everyone, and, of them all, he was probably the least biased and most able.

Although to be fair, he was several hundred years older with the maturity to match.

Alex switches spots with J’onn but stays close, her hand resting on the Martian’s huge shoulder.

“Hello Jordan.I can not imagine the things that must be going through your mind, but I promise you, if you let me, I will do my very best to help you make sense of them all.”

“You will trick me?”Jordan accuses, and Alex notices her grammar gets worse when she is nervous.She squeezes J’onn’s shoulder in warning.

“Martians do not have the ability to read the minds of Kryptonians.Your thoughts and memories will be safe.”J’onn winks and Alex fights her own smile, that gesture enough to calm some of her own anxiety even when not directed at her.“We do, however, have a… calming effect that I think would be beneficial.Besides that, my psychic abilities would allow me to help you work through at least some of what happened.Our friend Agent Dox has agreed to assist you with the rest.”

Brainy gives a firm nod behind them, a small reassuring smile of his own flitting across his lips.

“You will of course need a new identity.”Lena warns, bringing them all back to the logistics of this hail-Mary plan.“Besides a new name, you’ll need a new life.Kaznia isn’t safe for you right now and it probably won’t be for a while.If you choose to accept our help, that means you’ll be staying with J’onn and people will be bound to notice that you and Kara look alike.”

Alex nods, releasing a nervous breath at this next stage of the plan.

“When Kara came to live with my family, we created a backstory for her too.Her family died in an explosion and she had scattered memories of her past life.It would be easy to say that the trauma from that experience made her forget about her twin sister.That, in the search for answers about her birth family, she discovered you living in Russia and brought you to the US so you could get to know one another.”

Jordan blinks dubiously, her eyes darting between them all as if expecting some sort of prank.“You are serious?”

They all shift, sharing glances before turning back to Jordan with smiles of affirmation.Alex doesn’t smile.

What she’s about to say is still raw, but she has a feeling that Red Daughter has more in common with her and Lena than she does with Kara.And smiles and hugs aren’t going to be enough to convince her to take this chance.Not when she’d been burned so thoroughly by Lex.For this to work she had to trust that they didn’t see her as a monster, or a tool, or a weapon.

“What you felt when Mikhail died?”The nod Alex tries to give as confirmation to her feelings comes out jerky and she closes her eyes for a moment to re-center herself.“I understand that anger and pain… When I thought K—when I thought I’d lost her I… couldn’t handle that.I wanted to make the world pay and, if she hadn’t come back, I would have.And I wouldn’t have let anything stand in my way.”Despite the blurry mess her vision has become, Alex keeps her eyes on Jordan’s.“I can’t fault you for something I would have done too.”

Kara looks at her again, but Alex ignores her for now.

What’s happening right now may be because of Kara but it’s not _for_ Kara.This is for Jordan.

So Alex holds her stare and waits.

It feels like an eternity later before Red Daughter— _Jordan_ nods and they all release a collective sigh of relief.

J’onn gives her a rundown of what he’ll expect, and Jordan nods her head, her intense expression a dead giveaway to just how serious she is taking her evil villain rehab.Kara eventually stands and pulls Alex away to a corner where she envelops her in a hug.

“I love you.”She whispers, her breath ghosting over Alex’s neck.“I’m so sorry you were in pain.”

Alex returns the hug, her words muffled by the fabric of Kara’s cape.“Just don’t do that again, ok?You either learn how to beat up a Kryptonian or I stop kissing you.”

Kara jerks back, everything about her screaming _offended._ “Excuse me but Kryptonian’s aren’t the easiest people to beat.”

“I beat Astra and you and Clark.”

“When did you beat Clark?”

“I gave him a wedgie when I was twelve.”

“…He probably let you.”

“Nope.”Kara scowls and Alex kisses her, some of the heaviness lifting from her heart.Ever since she’s remembered that this is a thing she can do, a thing Kara _wants_ her to do, she can’t seem to stop.She’s addicted to Kara’s lips; Kara’s everything.“We’re gonna have to go home soon.Mom is going to be thrilled to see that you’re ok.”

“Hm.She must have been so scared.”Sighing, Kara nuzzles against Alex’s cheek before giving a resolute nod.“Ok, I’m going to start training harder.With J’onn and Brainy and _you_ the master Kryptonian defeater.”

“And don’t you forget it.”

A deep rumbling chuckle from their left make them look up at J’onn who is watching them with pure delight.

“I’m going to get Jordan settled in now.You two stay out of trouble.”

Alex nods, “always.”

“Maybe,” Jordan starts hesitantly glancing between the two of them and finally finding her courage.“Maybe this time, when I have gained your trust, maybe you could also be my Alex.”

Kara squeezes her hand so hard it’s borderline painful, but Alex is well used to how her girlfriend gets when she’s excited.Girlfriend; it’s going to take some realigning to start thinking of Kara as her girlfriend again.Her head is still all sorts of fucked up.Still, Jordan doesn’t seem _all_ evil and if Alex doesn’t say something soon, she’s pretty sure Kara will vibrate out of her skin.

So, she sticks to honesty and second chances because so far, they haven’t really let her down.

“I’d like that.”

And Jordan’s smile is _almost_ as bright as Kara’s.

~*~

“What do you mean it’s weird?”Kara whispers later that night.The blonde is wiping her face clean of the last vestiges of her makeup and the battle, having just emerged from the shower.

It had been an emotional reunion with Eliza and, after blubbering for a few hours, the three women had retreated to their separate corners.Eliza was still completely ignorant of Alex and Kara’s new—re: old— relationship but they had shared a bed enough times for it not to look weird.

Re: almost every time Eliza came to visit, if Alex stayed over, she bunked with Kara and left the sofa to Eliza.Given the conditions of their recent reunions Alex has to assume that Eliza won’t even bat an eye at her daughters sharing a bed again.It’d probably be weirder for her if Alex had left to go home.

Which… hadn’t even been an option.There was no way she was letting Kara out of her sight.

Surprisingly, Kara had stopped being a brat long enough to allow Alex to shower first.Most of the Kryptonian’s injuries had already healed but Alex had started hobbling around like a goblin as her muscles contracted from damage and overuse.It was actually pretty painful.

Kara had made sure Alex was settled on the bed, ice and heat packs covering most of her body, before leaving to take her own shower.They’d left the door open and while Kara had had to speak a little louder to be heard over the spray of water, Alex hadn’t.Thus far, their conversation has retained a respectable level of sound so as not to disturb Eliza and, now that Kara is out of the shower, she no longer needs to project her voice.

Watching Kara slip on her t shirt and pull back the covers, Alex can do little more than shrug.

Now that everything has sunk in, she’s starting to realize the oddities in their situation.

“I don’t know, I mean… I’m not really _her_ Alex.I mean technically she doesn’t have an Alex.”

Kara’s brow gets a crinkle and she slides onto the bed, relieving Alex of her ice packs before reaching behind her for the lamp switch.“Don’t say that, she can hear you.”

“Seriously?You think she’s listening to me and you don’t find that creepy?”

“I would.”Kara confesses, a blush sliding over her cheeks as she turns off the lights.Whatever has her embarrassed doesn’t stop her from sliding closer to Alex and tucking her head under her chin.“If I weren’t with you right now, I’d be listening for you.”

“Yeah, but I’m _yours._ I’m _your_ Alex.That’s not creepy that’s just annoying.”

Kara pinches her and she swallows a yelp, lifting her arm and wrapping it around Kara’s shoulders.

“She’s a part of me.The Harun-El… it made her _from_ me and… well, you’re the most important person in my life; my favorite person in the entire multiverse.If she feels even half of what I feel for you…” Sighing, Kara nuzzles the skin behind Alex’s ear, inhaling deeply and tickling the flesh there.“Just be patient with her ok?”

“I will, it’s just…”

“Weird?”

“Weird.”

Kara makes a disgruntled noise.“I’m sorry for loving you so much I made my twin become obsessed with you.”

“Don’t be.”Alex says, chuckling and bussing a kiss to Kara’s forehead.“If the Harun-El affected me the same way it affects you our positions would most assuredly be reversed.”

“Are we going to be ok?”Kara asks softly, some vulnerability leaking into her voice and making Alex’s chest clench.

She, of course plays it off.There’s no way she’s going to continue unpacking any more of the trauma the last few weeks had fraught upon them.

“You mean the part where we’re helping J’onn raise an adult slightly evil communist version of you?Or the part where we’re adopting a Kaznian orphan when neither of us have _any_ idea how to actually care for children and still haven’t even told most of our friends and family about our relationship together?”

“Nope, I meant the part where you were flirting pretty heavily with James’ sister and I definitely noticed that you haven’t called her to tell her you’re taken.”

“Seriously?”

“Your nickname in Highschool was demolition Danvers because you broke everyone’s hearts.”

“Uh no, it was a sports nickname that my soccer team gave me.”

“Remember Ronnie Alcott?”

“I did _not_ break his heart, I punched him because he broke _your_ heart.”

“He smashed my cupcake!”

“And I took care of it, I don’t see why that is now getting me in trouble when I had my memories altered!”

“Are you going to break up with her?”Kara demands, popping up and leaning over Alex.

It’s still fairly easy to see most of Kara’s face despite the lack of light.Kara likes to leave her curtains partially open so the room still has some of the glow from the city lights down below.The fierceness of Kara’s eyes right now is a huge turn on but, that she even feels the need to ask this question, dampens any arousal Alex may have felt.

“First of all, we’re not dating.And second, _of course_ I’m going to tell her about us.”She lays her hand against Kara’s cheek when she feels the woman tremble, wondering just how much her relationship with Kelly had hurt Kara.It must have been torture watching someone else start to build in a spot that was rightfully yours.“I’m going to tell her Kara, I promise.Nothing is gonna come between us again ok?”

A shaky nod later and Kara has resumed her position.“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be clingy or anything.”

“I am.I’m going to be clingy for at least a month so get ready.”

Kara squeezes her, fingers scrunching the fabric of Alex’s shirt while the Kryptonian focused on calming herself back down.Humming, Alex takes the hand and presses a kiss to each digit.

“We’re going to need to get a bigger place once Mikhail’s papers go through.I know it might be temporary until Red— _Jordan_ is more stable but… it’d be nice maybe, for the future…”

She lets the words sit there, playing with Kara’s fingers and staring at the ceiling.Kara takes a while but finally, slowly, relaxes against her again.

“How were you even going to manage a baby in a studio apartment anyway?”

“Uh, one it’s a _junior one bedroom_ and two, you are a judgey-Mc-judger!”

Kara pops up again and pecks Alex on the mouth, the kiss tasting of amusement and promises.“I love you.We’ll start looking tomorrow.”

Alex grumbles, fighting a grin and tugging Kara back down, her cheek resting atop Kara’s head.How she could have convinced herself that forgetting this would have ever been worth it, she’ll never know.There’s still so much they have to figure out and Alex still has to call up Kelly, Kara’s best friend’s _sister,_ and explain to her why they can’t be a thing.There’s Jordan to take care of and Mikhail to figure out and Lena is going to need them now more than ever. Brainy was probably going to propose to Nia if left with anymore movies as his guides and J’onn would need all of their support as he tried to find a new path.

It was a mess and the next few months would probably be pretty hard but Alex has always been sure of one thing and it’s what she offers Kara now.

“We’re going to be fine.I love you and we’re going to be just fine.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooooooooooooo
> 
> Red Daughter choosing Jordan as her name is her taking her life back. I don't personally see her as a Jordan, but all I really got from her personality wise was that she enjoyed the Great Gatsby. Building off that Canon fact, and the fact that I hated Daisy way more than I did Jordan, I decided she'd like Jordan more. Also, I kind of hated the Great Gatsby when I read it so my opinions should not be counted as valid since I used SparkNotes to pass that English Test.
> 
> Following this, J'onn will basically take Jordan under his wing and start a kind of rehab with her. This way he can still do his crime fighting, community building stuff, while also living up to his peaceful father's legacy.
> 
> While she's being re-educated to the ways of the world by a completely impartial (in terms of governments and religions) centuries old alien, Mikhail will be staying with Kara and Alex who will apply to foster him. In my head, while Otis left Mikhail alive, the mother wasn't so lucky because lets face it, Otis was an idiot. So Mikhail's been in some orphanage or something and will now be making a home with the Danvers'. Jordan will be visiting but having a brainwashed Kryptonian as a child's sole guardian seems like a terrible idea.
> 
> But, with them taking Mikhail in, means they have to come clean to their friends and family. So that should be interesting.
> 
> But what'd you think of the rest of it? In my head, Alex would never have been able to hurt Red Daughter. When she ran at her in the woods? Alex ran Astra through with a sword for less and, granted she may not have had a Kryptonite sword on hand, but she damn sure had something. Supergirl said, Red Daughters with Eliza, there is no way in hell Alex went there unarmed. But, rather than drawing a weapon she just kind of.... pushed her. Like a sissy. And then got flung across the forest. To me, that lends some credence to her not being able to hurt someone with Kara's face.
> 
> When she learns RD's real story, I think that would be exacerbated and she'd at least be sympathetic even if she finds the idea of a clone idolizing her weird.
> 
> And Kara just sees the best in everyone.
> 
> I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate that they let Lex be the one to tell Lena about Kara. Obviously this story still leaves a lot to be worked out, but at least Lena heard it from someone she trusts. And at least she understood that Kara wanted to tell her and wasn't just being a jerk. Even if it was still pretty jerky that she continued to lie, it wasn't *completely* jerky you know?
> 
> Anywho, I'll leave it there. And I swear I'm going to try to work comment responses back into my schedule!
> 
> ~Chronicles

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This has been rumbling in my brain for a little while and I couldn't think of a solid plot so I turned it into a oneshot because Kara honestly needs a hug.
> 
> It all started when Kara told Alex that she would have "All the things." It was super gooey and I thought, Kara could give her all the things. And then all the talk of partners etc. And then post memory wipe when Alex was ranting about putting her life on hold I said, well why would that have happened?
> 
> And thus this was born from all of that.
> 
> Which just makes my heart ache even more.
> 
> Also, while I totally think that SG/Lena apology was long overdue, I also think that Lena should have apologized to SG as well. Like Kara's not the only one who was a bit of a douche to their friends.
> 
> And lastly! Eve Tessamacher! I did *not* see that coming. At all. I tried to fit that betrayal somewhere in here but I just couldn't. It's still so raw. One day I hope to actually get some more juice out of this but for now, I think my mind is just overloaded with "wow".
> 
> Mindsplosion.
> 
> It's been awesome.
> 
> Anyway that's what I've got. Toodles.


End file.
